Life Is A Maze
by ice373
Summary: Bella and Alice move to Sydney to live with Rosalie. The three best friends meet three gorgeous guys, but do they find love in the end? AH, Normal pairings. Read L.I.A.M.
1. Here We Come

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or any of the characters unfortunately.  
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A/N: This is my first fanfic - pretty scary! haha. :)  
There are so many talented authors on this site, and after reading their stories they've inspired me to write a story of my own! So I hope you all enjoy my first story! ****  
Now without further a do, I give you.... ****LIFE IS A MAZE!!!**

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"OMG! Can you actually believe that we're moving to Sydney! It's gonna be sooooo awesome! I'm so excited!"

"Yeah. I can tell Alice." I laughed. She was practically jumping up and down.

"What's wrong Bella? You don't seem half as excited as I thought you'd be." Alice asked with a slight frown on her face.

"I am excited Alice. See…. WOOHOO! Sydney here we come!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. People in the airport were looking at me strangely, some laughing at my stupidity. Oh great, attention. Just what I need. I could already feel my cheeks starting to turn as red as a tomato. I looked down at my feet – the safest place to look right now in my opinion.

"Don't you dare try and fake enthusiasm with me young lady! You know very well that I can see through you as easily as if you were glass." Alice challenged.

"Alice. I am excited. I'm just not very fond of moving, that's all." I simply answered.

And that was the truth. I really didn't like moving. Moving just meant new beginnings, new friends, new environments, new jobs. Everything was N.E.W. You also had to put in an effort to get along with people too. If I had just stayed in Melbourne, all this wouldn't be necessary, since I had friends back there. I also wouldn't need to replace all my furniture, or quit my job. I wouldn't have to go through all this trouble. But, since Alice was moving due to her job relocation, and since it was Rose who we were moving in with, I kind of felt obliged to move to Sydney. Besides, I'm sure the move will be worth it in the long run.

Alice, Rosalie and I have been best friends since high school. We went to the same university too. Now me and Alice are 22 while Rosalie is 23. We're practically sisters. However, after uni, Rose moved to Sydney to follow her dream of designing cars. She comes up with the best designs! Even though I'm not a car fanatic I would definitely buy one of her designs. She loves cars. Not as much as she loves me and Alice though. Well, that's what I like to think.

Alice is a fashion designer. She's slowly making her way to the top. Her boss advised her to go to Sydney if she wants to have a better chance at becoming one of the leading designers in Australia. So she agreed, and that's basically why we're moving. She, much like Rosalie, is also really good at what she loves doing. She comes up with these pretty funky clothes, and even though I wouldn't buy her designs for myself, I still love them!

It's not that she's a bad designer or anything. She's really good, but it's just that the type of clothes that she designs isn't really my style. Well, basically anything fashionable isn't my style. Rose and Alice refer to me as being 'fashionably challenged.' Alice reckons that forcing me into her designs will help get rid of my little 'problem.' Personally, I think she just makes me model her designs to torture me. What great friends I had, right?

Just because both my best friends were exceptionally beautiful and could pull off whatever outfit they threw on in the morning, didn't mean that everyone could look as attractive as they do everyday. And that was true. Rosalie and Alice were oth extremely gorgeous young ladies. Alice, although very petite, had spiky, short, black hair which always looked glossy and perfect. Same with Rose's blonde, long, wavy hair. Rosalie was taller than both Alice and I and she had the body of a model. No, not the stick-thin runway models, but the commercial bikini models. Both of them put those models to shame. They both also had such grace and elegance in whatever they did. Even when Rose was fixing cars, she looked like a goddess. And the same goes for Alice. They both were just perfection.

Me. Well I'm not really a designer of any sort, unless you count writing as designing stories. But I don't write stories. I have a column in the local paper. Correction. I HAD a column in the local paper. Now I have to seek a new job in some Sydney paper I guess. I've always dreamed of being a journalist. I don't know why though. I guess it's just because I can express myself so easily on paper. I love writing.

"Bella come on. We can board the plane now!" Alice excitedly informed me.

We joined the end of the line and waited for everyone to slowly move up. Alice dragged me closer and closer to the entrance every time the line moved an inch.

"Bella. It's moving." she said for the hundredth time.

"Yeah I know Alice. Hold your horses!" I sighed, clearly annoyed. I rolled my suitcase along without looking up to see where I was going. Only I could be stupid enough to do that. I accidentally bumped into a hard wall. As I lifted my head to see why the hell there was randomly a wall in the middle of the airport, I was horrified to find myself face to face with a bulky, muscular man. Okay, I wasn't really face to face with the young man since he was a whole lot taller than me, but still.

He had short, curly, brown hair and his dimples were showing since he was grinning at me with an expression of amusement plastered on his face. He was actually quite attractive. He was a giant compared to Alice and he looked pretty intimidating. I'm sure that he could easily knock me to the ground with one slight push of his pinky finger.

"Oh my gosh! I am so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going. I truly am sorry!" I rambled, trying to get on the man's good side to avoid being punched in the face.

After a few seconds he let out a booming laugh. "That's ok. I do that all that time! By the way, I'm Emmett." He grinned.

"Bella. Nice to… ummm…. meet you." I stammered, still recovering from his reaction to my clumsiness. I so wasn't expecting that.

He chuckled another booming laugh. "Hey! You're that girl from before, that shouted out 'here we come Sydney!' right?" I immediately blushed from his comment.

"Yeah that was Bella alright! However, she actually yelled out 'Sydney here we come!' I can't wait to tell Rose about that. I'm Alice by the way."

"Alice! Nice to meet you. I've only known your name for about 5 seconds, and I already like you!" he laughed a softer chuckle this time.

"I have that kind of affect on people." Alice said matter-of-factly with a huge grin on her face. "Come on guys, it's time to board!"

Coincidentally, we ended up practically sitting next to Emmett, with an aisle separating me and Alice from him. We learnt that he was actually on holidays in Melbourne and that he lived in Sydney with his two best friends Jasper and Edward. We then told him our story. The flight wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be thanks to Emmett's and Alice's jokes. Those two got along so well, but then again Emmett and Alice were both such lovable people.

I was sad to say goodbye to Emmett once our plane landed. He was such a funny guy. However, we said our goodbyes after realising that we would probably see each other sometime in the future since we all now lived in Sydney. Wow. I now lived in Sydney.

Rose was already waiting at the arrival terminal when we got there. We embraced each other in hugs like we hadn't seen her for years. However, in actual fact, we saw her last month. We were so lame. But we were lame and proud. As we headed to Rose's BMW, I saw a gorgeous bronze haired man leaning against one of the white poles of the airport. He had one of his legs propped up against it, while his arms were crossed in front of his chest.

He wore a grey, tight-fitting t-shirt which emphasised his not overly huge, but definitely defined, muscles. His bronze hair was messily arranged and sticking up in all different directions as if he had run his hand through his soft looking hair several times. And his face. OMG his face. He had such a perfect facial structure; his sharp angled nose, his cheekbones, his soft looking lips. But the thing that I noticed were his eyes. I couldn't even begin to describe his eyes. They were like gorgeous, glistening emeralds. And that was an understatement. He looked like a Greek God, just standing there with ease.

I was already falling head over heels for this random guy and he hadn't even noticed me yet. I suddenly couldn't feel the ground under my feet. I realised after a few seconds that I had tripped over one of those stupid, little, luggage trolleys and was now laying face flat on the cold, polished floor. Lots of people started crowding around me, checking whether I was okay.

"Bella! Are you okay? We thought you knew that trolley was in front of you so we didn't bother telling you. Did you break anything?" Rosalie asked, worry dripping from her every word.

"Yeah, I'm fine guys. No broken bones see," I proved by standing upright. If that gorgeous guy hadn't noticed me before, he definitely would have by now. How embarrassing. I bet I had already flaunted multiple shades of red. "Can we just go guys." I pleaded.

Alice and Rosalie, knowing that I loathed attention with a passion, cleared the crowd away before we started walking out of the airport. I then heard a familiar booming laugh.

"Nice Bella! See you around!" Emmett shouted way too loud across the arrival terminal, directing more stares my way. I quickly waved back, flashing him a quick embarrassed smile, then hid my face as I exited the airport. I really hoped that I could see Emmett again. He truly was a great guy.

On the way to Rose's apartment, all three of us caught up and exchanged stories with one another. We eventually started singing/shouting along to songs that were on the radio. It was the most fun that I've had in a long time. We finally reached her apartment building and she almost gave me a heart attack when she told us that she lived on the 14th floor. Thank gosh for elevators!

Apparently, Rose had only moved into this apartment about 3 weeks ago. Since she had moved to Sydney, she had been living in another apartment complex. When she moved here though, she was originally staying with another girl, Patricia, however she moved out a week and a half ago to be closer to work. That was a little after Alice had started looking for a place to stay in Sydney. Talk about good timing.

Rose unlocked the door to her – now our – apartment. I was blown away with how gorgeous it was. I was definitely not expecting it to be this great! It was like a 5 star hotel! Immediately once you walked in, the small hallway lead you a very spacious open room. The left part of it was the living room, whilst the right of it was the kitchen, and boy was it big! In front of the kitchen bench was the dining room.

On the left wall there were two doors, both of which led to bedrooms. Directly to the back wall there was another door which led to the other bedroom. There was a small hallway next to that bedroom, which led to the bathroom and laundry room. All in all, the whole place looked so modern with feature walls in all the bedrooms and the living room. There was furniture in the whole apartment, excluding me and Alice's rooms, and it was all very modern too, no wood in sight.

What made the apartment even better though, was the balcony which was next to the bathroom. The view was gorgeous! Our apartment overlooked the slightly crowded streets of Hornsby. Having a candle-lit dinner out here during twilight would be amazing! Note to self: Arrange a dinner out here.

"Rose! Wow! This place is amazing! How can you afford something like this?" I asked very impressed with the place.

"Bella, you know that my family is financially well-off, same with Alice's." she simply answered.

Of course. How could I forget that! Alice and Rosalie both came from, as Rose put it, 'financially well-off' families. Lucky them. However, both of them always insist on buying me things every week. For Alice, sometimes daily. I hate it when people buy me stuff that I don't need. Actually, I just hate it when people buy me stuff in general. I didn't need people to shower me with new things just because they had the extra money to spend or because they wanted to. I could afford my own stuff with my own money. It's not that I don't appreciate the gesture and their kindness, but it just bothers me to know that their spending their own money on me. I guess it just makes me feel pretty guilty.

The rest of the day was spent unpacking the small amount of things that we brought with us, while the night was spent catching up and gossiping. At about 1am, we decided to call it a night. We had all had a pretty long day. Me and Alice argued over who would sleep in Rose's bed, since she had a queen sized one, and who would hit the couch.

After about 15 minutes, Alice finally gave up and headed off to Rose's room, but not without shouting out "You're the most stubborn person I've ever met Bella!" in a faux annoyed tone before leaving the room. I laughed at her playfulness. Gosh I loved my best friends! I was so thankful to have them. Rose came back out of her room just before I turned off the lights.

"Do you need anything else Bella? Spare blankets are in the cupboard next to the laundry room if you need them later."

"Nope, I'm all good. I'm all set for my first night in my new Sydney home!" I replied.

"Bella, I know you weren't too eager to move here. But I promise you, it will be worth it. I'll make sure of that. Just give it a chance and a little time, alright? Soon enough, you'll love it here! Trust me, it grows on you!" she cheerfully reminded me.

"I already love it here Rose! And even if I didn't like it here, you can't blame that on yourself! So don't, okay? I truly do like Sydney, and I'm sure eventually it will be worth it." I told her, trying to ease her mind.

"I know, but still." she paused "Anyway, you better get some sleep. You've had a long day today." Rose said as she turned off the living room lights, and heading to her room.

"Rose?" I called out to the darkness, my eyes still attempting to adjust to the pitch black of the apartment.

"Yeah Bella?"

"Thank you. For everything. I know that Alice appreciates everything that you've done for her, and I do too."

"Well what are friends for? You know that I love both of you guys to death." Rose cheerfully replied.

"I love you too Rose. You're like my sister."

"Guys! Shut up already! Trying to get my beauty sleep here!" Alice shouted, obviously annoyed. Way to ruin the moment. Sleepy Alice was definitely not one to mess with. If she didn't get enough sleep one night, the next morning she'll be complaining non-stop about the bags under her eyes.

Rose softly chuckled, probably reminiscing the similar situations from when we were sharing dorms in uni. "I've missed that girl. Anyway, I better get to bed. Night Bella!"

"Night Rose. Night Alice!" I shouted at Mr Grumpy.

"Goodnight Bella! Now shut your mouth and go to sleep!" I laughed at her bluntness.

I got comfortable under the blankets and positioned myself better on the very comfy, soft, long couch. I couldn't help but let my mind wander back to that breath-taking Greek God. I smiled at my memory of the unknown man. With him filling my thoughts, I drifted into a deep sleep fairly quickly, only to meet him and his emerald eyes once again in my dreams.

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So tell me what you think.  
Any advice or feedback is very much appreciated! Thanks!  
:)

Ice  
xx


	2. Cottage Cookies

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or any of its characters :(**

**Hey everyone!  
As you can see this is the next chapter of 'Life Is A Maze'.  
I hope you enjoyed the last chapter. Seeing as it was my first chapter EVER I wasn't sure whether you guys would like it or hate it. LOL  
But yeah. So this is the next chapter, and it's still kind of establishing the story and the characters so bear with me. I promise you the good stuff is coming soon!  
Anyways, I hope you enjoy reading this chappie!  
Here we go.....**

There he was. Staring back at me with those gorgeous green eyes. He started to walk up to me. Step by step. He stopped right in front of me and leaned down so his god-like face was levelled with my plain one. He parted his lips and let out a soft "Bella." My heart fluttered from hearing my name come out of those soft lips.

"Bella" he said again, however it sounded different this time. "Bella!" Why was he screaming at me now? What did I do wrong?

"Bella! Wake up you sleepyhead!" Alice brought me out of my dream.

Oh, so he wasn't calling out my name. It was stupid Alice. I frowned at my realisation. If only he knew my name….

"Come on! Get up. We have to go shopping for furniture today!" Alice screamed at me. Obviously, she had already had her three cups of coffee.

"Leave me alone Alice. It's not my fault you woke up at a freakish early hour of the morning! Now go away!" I yelled back at her. She was the one who woke me up from my perfect dreams of _him _so she would be the one to pay.

"Freakish early hour? Bella, F.Y.I. it's 11 am, and the sun is out for another gorgeous day." She sang, as she pulled open the blinds to prove her statement true.

"11am! Already? You've got to be kidding me!" I asked, surprised at the actual time.

"Don't worry Bella. You had a long day yesterday, so you had a reason to sleep in!" I heard Rose say for the first time since I woke up.

"Anyway, come on Bella. You have to get ready, we're leaving in 15 minutes!" Alice dragged me off the couch and shoved me into the bathroom.

I had actually forgotten that I had been sleeping on the couch this morning. It's sad to say this, but it's probably more comfy than my bed back in Melbourne!

"And don't worry Bella! I'll plan your outfit for today for you and I'll lay it out on Rose's bed, kay?"

"Alice, you make it seem like this is new for us. We both know you always do whatever you can to make sure you plan my outfits for me! Maybe once in a while you should trust my fashion judgement." I yelled through the bathroom door.

"Not a chance in hell, Bella, not a chance in hell." Alice sang.

I gave up. God knows that no one can win an argument with Alice. I washed my face and brushed my teeth after deciding to shower when I came back. After double checking in the mirror that I looked decent enough to go out in public, I stepped out of the bathroom and walked over to Rose's room. I found a decent outfit laying there on Rose's bed which was unusual. Normally, Alice and I would fight about the outfit of her choosing, and she would end up forcing me into the outfit herself.

But today, she chose a pair of light-grey, faded, skinny jeans, with a simple white and red t-shirt. She had a pair of red and black converses on the floor next to the bed, whilst a black and white chequered scarf lay on the bed next to the jeans. Agreeing with the outfit, I chucked everything on. Knowing that Alice would want me to wear the scarf in the triangle form, I quickly draped it around my neck and headed out to the living room.

"Looking hot, much?" Rose asked.

"I knew that would look good on you Bella and I know you agree with me. Admit it!" Alice exclaimed with a huge smirk on her face.

"Okay okay Alice. Yes, I do agree with your chosen outfit, but I'm not saying that I look good in it." I simply stated.

"Bella, when are you going to see yourself clearly! You're such a beautiful young lady!" Rose sighed.

"Guys, can we not get into this again. Come on, let's just go."

"Whatever Bella. But someday, you will see yourself clearly. We'll make sure of that, right Alice?"

"Definitely." Alice agreed.

That was that. We all linked arms and walked out of our apartment after grabbing necessities, like our mobiles and wallets. We took the elevator – which is now one of my new best friends – down to the car park, jumped into Rose's BMW and headed off to Hornsby Westfield.

Again, the car ride was a lot of fun even though it was much shorter this time. Parking was pretty hard, since it was around lunch time, but we finally got one after driving around the multiple levels of the huge car park.

Rose led us to all the good furniture shops, since that was what was on our agenda for this weekend, while showing us around the shopping centre as we went. A lot of the shops here were the same as back in Melbourne, so that was helpful.

We were in 'My House' and it was almost 1pm already. We hadn't had lunch yet and I was starving. I told Rose and Alice that I was going to go to Woolworths to buy something to eat really quickly, since we had passed it on our way here and I was 98% sure that I wouldn't get lost. Besides, even if I did get lost, I had my mobile with me.

Rose said to come back up as soon as I was finished since we they were going to go to another store soon, whilst Alice mindlessly nodded in my general direction. I don't think she even heard me over her mumbles of which bed sheets to buy for our newly purchased queen beds, courtesy of Domayne.

I exited the small store, shaking my head at Alice's shopping ways. I made my way down to Woolworths and browsed for something light and cheap to purchase. I found myself in the biscuits aisle after a few minutes. I scanned the shelves for 'Cottage Cookies' – my favourite brand of cookies in the whole wide world. I finally found the spot where they were meant to be. I thanked the lord for my luckiness today, as there was only one packet left of the 'Chocolate Chip Indulgence' flavour. I guess people in Sydney agreed with me in saying that the double choc flavour was way too chocolaty.

I reached out to grab the last remaining packet and was surprised when another hand grabbed it just when I did. Immediately I withdrew my hand, and was again surprised to see the other hand do the same.

I turned to see a young looking man looking back at me. He had blonde, smooth looking hair and was quite tall. He had slightly defined muscles and ice, blue eyes. He was quite attractive, although he held nothing on my greek god. Wait, did I just say _my _greek god. Oh you're going absolutely insane Bella! You don't even know him for heaven's sake! You'll probably never see him again. But you never know, just like Emmett pointed out yesterday, 'we all live in Sydney.' However, maybe he didn't live in Sydney, I mean, he was at the airport. I didn't see him with any luggage though. Then again, even if there were fireworks exploding behind him, I wouldn't have realised.

"I'm sorry, you can have them." The man apologised.

"No, it's okay. You can take them. I didn't really want them anyways." I replied.

"Miss, it's okay. You can take them. _I_ didn't really want them. Please, I insist."

I stood my ground and lifted my eyebrow at him.

"Miss, if I were to take the packet of cookies, I would feel extremely guilty in doing so. So please, take them."

He was such a gentleman and he seemed like a really nice guy. However he kept on saying 'miss' and it was kind of getting annoying. "I'm Bella, and seriously, I don't want them. If you would feel guilty taking the cookies, what makes you think that I wouldn't feel guilty. I know you're being a gentleman and all, but honestly, you can take them."

"I'm Jasper, nice to meet you." He replied while looking into my eyes.

We both started cracking up after a few seconds.

"We're so sad. We're arguing over a pack of cookies!" I managed to get out in between my laughs.

"I know. Man, are we lame!" he gasped for air.

After our little laughing episode, we both calmed down.

"So do you live around here Bella?" he asked.

"Yeah actually. Pretty close from here. I only moved to Sydney yesterday though, so everything's kind of new to me." I laughed.

"Oh I know that feeling. When I was young, my dad changed jobs so many times that we practically didn't ever stay in a house for more than a year."

"Oh that sucks."

"Yeah, it does, doesn't it? Oh well, that's all in the past now. I'm glad to be living and staying put in Sydney. It's much easier."

"Yeah, I can imagine."

"Hmmm… well what are we going to do about our little cookie dilemma?" he asked.

"I don't know."

"How about we halve it after we pay for it?" he proposed after a minute of thinking.

"Okay, seems good to me." I happily agreed. I still couldn't believe that we were arguing over a pack of cookies earlier. Just then, I remembered that I needed to buy a new pack of bobby pins. Gosh this side fringe was getting in the way.

"Jasper, I just gotta go grab a pack of bobby pins. Could you pay first and meet me outside maybe?"

"Yeah sure. I'll see at the exit."

I ran off to the personal care aisle, only to find that bobby pins were out of stock. This shop really needs to stock up on stuff! I quickly made my way over to the exit to find Jasper waiting for me there.

"Where are your bobby pins?"

"They ran out of stock." I sighed, slightly annoyed.

"Oh okay. Well I gotta go to JB Hi-Fi to meet up with my friends. So hopefully I'll see you around Bella!" he said, handing me the bag.

"Yeah, hopefully."

"By the way, you're very stubborn Bella." He jokingly said.

"So I've been told." How funny that Alice said the exact same thing to me last night. These two would get along great.

"Anyway, see you around Bella! Take care!" he wished me before heading up the escalators. As he walked up the escalator, skipping every alternate step, I realised that he wasn't holding anything. I looked into the bag to find the whole pack of cookies inside, along with the receipt. I took out the receipt, only to find 'You're Welcome!' and a big smiley face written on the back of it. I looked back up to the escalator to find him gone. I should have known that he would pull something like this. I sighed, annoyed at myself for not realising sooner. And he even paid for them! That annoyed me even more. I grumpily headed back up to 'My House' having lost my appetite after Jasper's little stunt. I found Alice and Rose sitting on the couches outside the store.

"Where have you been Bella! Come on, we've got to keep moving. The shopping centre is going to close soon!" Alice yelled at me.

"Close soon? Are you kidding me Alice? It's not even 2pm yet!" I asked, outraged.

"Same difference! Hey what'd you buy?" she asked.

"Cottage cookies. You can have them, I'm not hungry anymore." I handed her the bag.

She shoved her hand into the plastic bag and pulled out the receipt.

"You're Welcome," She read aloud from the back of the receipt, which I forgot was still in the bag. "Who's this from? Care to share Bella?" she asked, clearly interested.

"Oh…that. Umm....long story." I stammered, not really wanting to share my story with them at the moment.

"Fine. Don't tell me. But you will tell us tonight missy! Mark my words!" Alice said as she dragged us to another store.

After many more stores, we went to the food court to buy some food, since we were all pretty fatigued from Alice's shopping spree. We stopped by a few more stores after that, and then at 6 o'clock we finally called it a day.

The car ride back to our apartment was pretty silent due to how worn out we all were. We plopped ourselves around the living room once we got home and just relaxed for ten minutes. Then my tummy started grumbling. Could you blame it? I hadn't had breakfast or lunch today.

"What do you guys want to eat for dinner tonight?" I asked them.

"I don't care."

"I want Chinese. Let's order take-away!" Alice happily suggested. I swear that girl had too much energy for a person her size.

"There's a Chinese shop along this road, not even 2 minutes walking distance away from here. You guys could walk there if you wanted." Rose suggested.

"Alright! Let's go Bella!" Alice agreed.

"I would go with you guys, but I really just want to have a nice, warm shower at the moment. Sorry guys." Rose apologised, her voice dripping with remorse.

"That's okay. You've done enough for us anyway." I replied.

"Bye Rose. We'll be back soon!" Alice yelled since she was already half way out the front door.

I quickly shut the door behind me and followed after Alice. I caught up to her at the elevator. We didn't have to wait too long for the doors to open thankfully. Once we stepped in and the elevator doors shut, Alice started bombarding me with questions about the message on the back of the receipt from earlier today. How could she even remember that? I told her the whole story after she pretty much forced it out of me.

"So….was this Jasper guy hot?" she asked immediately after I finished telling her the whole story.

"He was actually pretty attractive." I agreed. "You two would get along so well! He called me stubborn too." I added, realising that I had left that part of my afternoon out.

"Maybe because you are, Bella." Alice jokingly stated.

We talked small talk for the rest of the way and we found ourselves at the Chinese shop in less than 2 minutes, like what Rose said. I was surprised and very grateful that we didn't get lost. We ordered noodles, spring rolls and of course fortune cookies, and once it was ready we headed back home. Alice was so eager to find out what her fortune cookie said, that she broke it in half once we stepped out of the restaurant.

"The greatest danger could be your stupidity," she murmured to herself. "What the hell kind of message is that!" she scrunched up the thin piece of paper and chucked it on the ground in annoyance.

"Come on Bella. Open yours up now. And I swear if you get a better message than me I'll throw a tantrum." She said.

I broke mine in half and pulled out the paper.

"The time is right to make new friends." I read aloud.

Well that's interesting. New friends….maybe I'll meet some nice people at my new work place. That is, once I apply for a job here.

"Aren't you going to throw a tantrum?" I asked, remembering her previous statement.

"Pffft…. You think yours is any better than mine? Please! You're always meant to be making new friends silly!" she said matter-of-factly.

We got back to our apartment and took the elevator up to the 14th floor. Me and Alice were singing 'Electric Feel' while waiting for the elevator to take us up to our floor. We continued singing and laughing on our way down to 1417, our room. I swear we were high.

_You can feel it in your mind,_

_Oh you can do it all the time._

_Plug it in and change the world,_

_You are my electric girl._

_Ooh girl, shock me like an electric eel._

_Baby girl, turn me on with your electric feel._

"Bella, keys please!" Alice sang.

I was meant to take the keys? Woops.

"I didn't take the keys. I thought you did." I replied.

"Well I didn't take them because I thought _you_ were going to take them." She said.

"Oh well, don't worry. Rose is still home. Thank gosh for her laziness!" I chimed in.

We knocked on the door. "Rose open up. It's us!" I yelled through the door.

We waited for a minute and then started knocking again when she didn't come to the door.

"Damn! She must still be in the shower. That means we're going to be out here for at least another ten minutes, knowing how long Rose takes to shower." Alice said.

"Let's just start eating out here, cause I'm starving." I suggested.

"Okay, why not!" Alice happily agreed.

And so we sat out in the corridor of the apartment, my back to the elevator while Alice sat facing me. The food was splayed out on the ground in their individual take-away boxes in front of us both. As I was almost finished my second spring roll, I noticed that Alice was staring to the right of my head. I froze.

"What Alice? Do I have a big bug on my shoulder or something? Get it off! Get it off me!" I screamed.

"Shhhh! Shut up Bella! Calm down! There's nothing on your shoulder. Listen, don't turn around now, but there's a really hot guy behind you." She whispered.

I slowly turned my head around to see who Alice was talking about. He was blonde and quite tall. However, I couldn't get a good look of his face since he was looking down at the keyhole, trying to open his front door. Once he managed to unlock the door, he glanced our way. I was so shocked.

"Jasper?" I asked.

"Bella? Hey! What are you doing here? Do you live here?" he said, just as surprised as I was.

"Yeah, I do now. My friend Rose lives here, so me and Alice" I said pointing her out to him, "are now living with her." I told him. He had walked up to us by now, while me and Alice were still sitting on the floor.

"Whoa. What a coincidence. When you said that you lived close by, I didn't think you meant here!" We both laughed.

"So you live here?" I asked.

"Yup. 1414." He pointed to his room.

"We live in 1417! Wait, so why do you live in a 3 bedroom apartment by yourself? Or do you have roommates?" I asked, totally confused.

"Well I was living with my two best friends before, but they moved out about a month ago, and now they live together in another complex not too far from here. So now I have the whole place to myself!" he happily informed me.

I noticed that he kept glancing at Alice every now and then. Weird.

"Umm….I'm not trying to butt into your business or anything, but do you mind me asking why you lovely ladies are sitting out in the hallway?"

"That would be because Rose is in the shower, and we forgot to take keys with us when we went out to buy dinner. So now we're basically locked out until she gets out of the shower." Alice spoke for the first time.

"Ah, I see. Well you guys can wait in my apartment until your friend is finished her shower, if you want." He kindly offered. Although he didn't seem like the kind of creepy guy who would say that just to get you into his room, I thought that it would be better to stay out here, in case Rose opens the door soon.

"Nah, we're alright out here for now. But thanks for the offer!" I declined.

"Alright then, well have a lovely night ladies! Good to see you again Bella. Nice to meet you Alice. I'm sure we'll be seeing each other more often." He smiled a warm smile. He truly was a gentleman.

"Bye Jasper!" I called out as he walked down the hallway.

He smiled one last smile at us before heading into his room and closing the door.

I turned back around to our food and realised that Alice was still looking in the direction of his apartment. I waved my hand up and down in front of her face and she didn't even blink.

"Earth to Alice. Hello? Anyone in there?" I jokingly asked.

She finally blinked and came back to reality.

"Oh….My….God. Bella! Why didn't you tell me that Jasper was as hot as he is! He's so dreamy…" Alice softly said in a clearly love-struck tone.

Oh how I knew that those two would get along. I smiled to myself.

Just then, Rose opened the door with a towel on top of her head.

"What are you guys doing outside? I thought I heard your voices. Don't tell me you've already finished all the food!" Rose said.

"Well we would have come in if you had let us in! But no. You were too busy washing your hair, which by the way, smells very nice." I replied.

"Oh stop fussing Bella! If it weren't for Rose and her long showers, I wouldn't have met Mr Dreamy!" Alice dreamily backed Rose up.

"Who's 'Mr Dreamy?'" Rose questioned.

"Long story." I answered.

We spent the rest of the night finishing off our now-cold Chinese food and filling Rose in on the whole Jasper story.

"What a coinkydink! I so have to meet this Jasper! Is he really as hot and as dreamy as Alice says he is, Bella?"

"I would have to say….yes, he is. But he's not my type." I answered.

_That bronze-haired boy is my type though._Did I really just think that? I really am going crazy. Or maybe it's considered as obsessive.

We were all so worn out from laughing and gossiping that we went to bed soon after. My mouth had started to hurt from smiling so much from hearing Alice go on about Jasper.

Just before Rose and Alice left to go to Rose's room – since I insisted that I would take the couch until our beds arrived – I said to Alice "You know Alice. I think you're in love."

"You know Bella. I think I am too." She happily sighed, more so to herself than Rose or I.

"Night guys!" I switched off the lights and surprisingly managed to feel my way to the couch without tripping over anything and breaking my leg.

I was so happy for Alice. I'm pretty sure that Jasper has the same feelings for her as she does for him, from the way he was looking at her today. I wish I could find love in this maze, which we so call 'life'. Someday I'll find love, or it'll find me. Someday.

I soon drifted into unconsciousness.

**So what do you think?  
Please review :)  
Any comments, feedback or criticism is appreciated!  
There are many more chapters to come after this one.  
I plan to make this a long story.  
Thanks for reading!  
****  
Ice  
xo**


	3. Don't I Look Manly?

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight. I own nothing :(**

**A/N: Hey y'all! I hope you all liked 'Cottage Cookies.' I love you all so much! Thank you for reading L.I.A.M! You all make me so happy. I still can't believe people are actually reading my story. LOL  
Anyway, this is the next chapter. I decided to update one day early, since I had this whole one-chapter-per-week-update thing planned, but I couldn't keep you guys waiting any longer! haha. So I hope you like it!  
****Now let's get on with it....**

**___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

I woke up to the sound of the microwave. What an interesting thing to wake up to. I stretched my arms as I sat up. I found that it was Rosalie in the kitchen.

"Morning Bella!" she chimed.

"Morning Rose. What time is it?" I yawned.

"Umm… 9:25. Alice is still asleep."

I walked over to the kitchen and found some cereal to have for breakfast.

"Actually, you know what Rose, I'm going to go for a jog. I feel like getting fit again." I joked.

"Okay then. Do you want me to come with you?" she offered.

However, me and Alice both know that Rose hated running.

"No, it's okay. But thanks anyways." I saved her from her nightmare.

She smiled in appreciation.

I got changed in the bathroom, since Alice was still asleep in Rose's room, and grabbed a drink bottle, my phone and keys – as I had learned to take every time I went out of the apartment since last night – before heading out. I was walking down the hallway to the elevator when I remembered my discovery last night. I stopped outside Jasper's room. I smiled to myself. Talk about coincidences. Just then, my smile grew even wider as I remembered his little stunt back at Woolworths. I quickly rushed back to our apartment and unlocked the door. Rose was nowhere in sight, so I was guessing she was in the bathroom or something. I went to the pantry and found the still-unopened-pack of Cottage Cookies, and opened them up. I cut the plastic cookie holder in two and roughly wrapped one half in glad wrap. I then scribbled down on a piece of paper, 'You're Welcome! :)'

With that, I locked the door behind me, and walked up to Jasper's room. I placed the glad wrapped cookies right in front of his door and left the note right on top. I then knocked on his door loudly, just in case he was still asleep. I hid behind a small wall near his door and silently waited.

"Who the hell is knocking on the door at 9:40! Don't you know it's a Sunday!" a familiar voice yelled while unlocking the door.

"Hey! Jasper, look! Christmas came way early this year!" the same voice excitedly screamed.

"What are you talking about you big buffoon?" Jasper asked.

"Look! Cookies!"

I heard someone munching on the cookies. A few seconds later, I heard Jasper laugh.

"Come on dude, time for breakfast." Jasper ordered.

The door then clicked shut and I heard it lock. I smiled to myself. Mission accomplished. I then made my way to the elevator and went for my jog around the block.

30 minutes later, I was still on my jog. I recalled back to the cookie incident this morning. I thought Jasper said that he lived alone. Weird. But then why was there a man at his apartment. In the morning. Was Jasper gay? OMG! Alice is going to be so heartbroken! And that voice was so familiar. That deep, booming voice. OMG! Emmett! Oh no way! Get out! Emmett and Jasper? A thing? My brain was having so much trouble processing this.

That's when I remembered that Emmett had mentioned the name 'Jasper' when he was telling us about his life on the plane to Sydney. Whoa. If I thought that Jasper living in the same apartment block as us was a coincidence, then this was a HUGE coincidence-maybe even fate!

I decided to head back to the apartment and confront Jasper about this. I was 98% sure that it was Emmett that had opened the door this morning. I didn't want to intrude in on their lives, but I just had to know so that I could break it to Alice that her dream man was not HER dream man anymore. Poor Alice. She's gonna freak.

I reached our floor and slowly walked up to Jasper's door. I checked my watch to find that it was already 10:17. I held my hand up in front of the door for a few seconds, before knocking three times.

I patiently waited.

The door opened and I found myself staring at the beautiful boy from the airport. That's right, the Greek God. His bronze gorgeous hair was messy and wet. He looked like he just came out of the shower. He had a dark blue button up shirt on and his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. He was wearing blue jeans and he looked so perfect standing there in front of me.

His eyes. They were so much more amazing and mesmerising close up. They were like brilliant, glistening emeralds, and I soon found myself lost in them. I was so shocked to see him there that I just stood there with my jaw hanging open. My memory of him did not do him justice.

I think I caught him staring at me for a while too, but I couldn't be sure, I was ogling at him for majority of the time. Besides, why would he be staring at me. I mean, I had my hair tied up in a ponytail, probably with sweat all through my hair from my run. And I was just wearing a simple violet singlet with black tights. Comfy clothes to run in if you ask me.

He quickly composed himself – if he was even looking at me in the first place – and asked "Can I help you?"

I melted at the velvet, smooth sound of his voice. Could this guy be any more perfect? I just stood there, looking like an idiot for a few seconds more. Quickly realising that I hadn't answered him, I shut my jaw and started rambling.

"Umm… yeah… uhh… does Jasper live here?" I think I saw him frown near the end of my broken up sentence. Strange.

"Oh don't worry, I probably have the wrong room." I blurted out.

"No, don't go! Umm, yeah Jasper's here. Hold on a second. You can come in. I'll just go get him for you." He politely told me.

I accepted his invitation and stepped into Jasper's apartment.

"Make yourself at home, please, ummm…" he stumbled.

"Bella" I informed the Greek god.

"Bella," he smiled "I'm Edward by the way." He smiled, then turned to go get Jasper.

Edward. What a gorgeous name to go with such a gorgeous guy. He was so perfect. Oh right! Edward, as in Emmett's other best friend. If the last two incidents were coincidences and big coincidences, then this must be fate.

"Who are you?" A deep voice asked.

I turned to the voice, 98% sure of who I would be turning to.

"Bella?" he asked.

"Emmett." I smiled knowingly.

"Bella!" He happily yelled. He ran over to me and brought me into a bone-crushing hug. "I told you that we would see each other soon!"

"Emmett… can't breathe." I gasped for air.

"Oh sorry Bella" he laughed, releasing his hold on me.

"You two know each other?" I turned to the other voice.

"Yeah… umm, we were on the same flight to Sydney." I informed Jasper.

"Really? Wow. That's cool." Jasper smiled, "Please Bella, sit down." He gestured to the couch.

I sat down while Jasper sat across me. His room was very much like ours. In fact it was exactly the same, just the other way. So everything was back to front. Their kitchen was on the left and their bedrooms were to the right and to the back.

"By the way. Thanks for the cookies." Jasper winked.

I smiled widely, proud of MY stunt.

"So what brought you here?" he curiously asked.

I saw Edward walk out of the bathroom and make his way to the kitchen. Jasper's couches were arranged so that Edward got a side profile view of both Jasper and I. Edward leaned against the kitchen bench, watching me and Jasper, with his arms folded in front of his chest. He reminded me of when I first saw him standing with ease against the airport pillar. I was so distracted by Edward that I had almost forgotten why I had come to his apartment.

Then Emmett walked in from the bedroom again and sat on one of the tall stools on the other side of the kitchen bench so that he was facing Edward's side. Right. Emmett and Jasper. Oh no, does that mean that Edward is gay too. Please God, please no!

"Umm….well I was kinda wondering. Umm…" I stuttered.

"Bella. Come on you can ask us anything! I already see you as my little sister!" Emmett boomed throughout the apartment. He gave me a wide grin.

I couldn't help but laugh at his cheesy, sweet ways.

"Well. Okay. I wanted to ask you whether…. umm…I'm not trying to butt into your lives of anything but, umm…. are you and Emmett gay together?" I blurted out.

I went a million shades of red once they started laughing. OMG. Why did I just ask that! Jasper was softly chuckling while Emmett was laughing his booming laugh that I love so much. I glanced quickly at Edward to find him smirking at me, on the edge of chuckling.

After Jasper regained himself he said "Bella. No. We're not gay. Trust me. If I were gay, with Emmett, I'd kill myself." He softly laughed.

"Bella. You crack me up so much! Man I love this girl! Don't you guys love her?" Emmett asked Jasper and Edward. I saw Edward look down and smile to himself, his hair falling in front of his face. I wanted to badly to push it back, but I clenched my hands into fists to resist. He then lifted his head and looked my way. Crap! He caught me looking. I quickly looked away, blushing madly.

"Besides, Bell. What made you think we were gay? Don't I look manly?" Emmett asked.

"Well, this morning, I was hiding behind the wall when you opened the door. At first, I didn't know that it was you, but your voice sounded so familiar. When I was on my jog, I realised that it WAS you Emmett. That's when I started recalling Jasper telling me that he lived alone. So when you opened the door, in the morning, I guess I was getting kind of suspicious. Because, think about it, why would another man be there in the morning when Jasper clearly said that he lived alone. So yeah." I explained.

"Oh yeah, I can see how that would look a little suspicious." Jasper agreed with me.

"I'm really sorry guys. I didn't want to doubt you or anything, but yeah." I apologised, going red again.

"Nah, don't worry about it Bella!" Jasper reassured me. He really was nice.

"Okay, well, I guess I better head back. Rose and Alice are probably wondering where I am." I excused myself.

"Alice! Oh man! I've missed that girl! We have to meet up sometime soon." Emmett said.

"Well they only live 3 doors down Emmett." Jasper informed him.

"Seriously! Why didn't you tell me this before! Oh man! If only me and Eddie hadn't moved out." he glumly said.

"Don't call me that Emmett! How many times have I told you man?" Edward said, clearly annoyed by the nickname that Emmett had used.

"Sorry dude. But you know you love that name!" Emmett cheekily retorted.

Edward pinched the bridge of his nose, and closed his eyes.

"Anyway Bellie, are you and Alice busy tonight? Cause if not, then us five could go catch a movie or something." Emmett suggested.

"I don't know, I'll ask her when I go back. Oh, umm, is it okay if I bring my friend, Rosalie, along too?" I asked.

"Yeah sure! The more the merrier, right?" Emmett cheerfully exclaimed.

"Okay cool guys. I'll just run back and ask them whether they're up for it tonight, then I'll run back and tell you guys."

"Just give us your number, then you can just text us, instead of running back and forth." Jasper suggested.

So we all exchanged numbers, including Edward, and then I headed back. Just before I left, I asked "Hey, by the way, why are you guys all here at Jasper's?"

"Oh. We were at our friend's party last night, and we just decided to crash at Jasper's instead of him driving us back to our complex – since we all met up here too. Besides, we practically still live here, cause I mean we're here all the time." Emmett explained.

I smiled. "Oh okay. Well I'll see you guys tonight, maybe." I happily said.

"Bye Bellie!" Emmett laughed.

I unlocked the door and found Alice and Rose both watching Channel V in the living room.

"Hey Bella. How was your run?" Rose asked me.

"Great thank you! By the way, do you guys have anything on tonight?"

"Hi Bella! And nope." Alice spoke for the first time.

"No, why?" Rose asked.

"Well you both know about Jasper, right? Yeah well remember Emmett, Alice?"

"Yeah…."

"Well, their best friends! And they were both at Jasper's this morning, as well as Edward. And we were talking and stuff, and then we've now arranged to go to the movies with them tonight. And I really wanna go! Alice you'll get to be with Jasper, and Rose you can be with Emmett, even though you've never met him, but you'll love him. And I really wanna get to know Edward! So! Are you guys free?" I rambled at 10 words per second.

"Whoa!!! Slow down girl! Why were you at Jasper's? Who's Emmett?" Rose asked.

"Who's Edward?" Alice added on, with a huge grin on her face.

OMG. Did I really just admit to them that I may like Edward? Oh no.

"Bella! Tell us! But slowly this time." Alice yelled at me.

I sat down with them and they turned off the TV. I started telling them everything from when I went out for my jog. I told them everything. They 'ooed' and 'ahhed' at the right places and laughed when I told them that I asked them whether they were gay. I relived the embarrassment once again.

"OMG! We so have to go guys! This is the perfect chance to get to know them better!" Alice excitedly said.

"Yeah, I wanna go too. But…. I don't feel like going to the cinemas." Rose stated.

"Well…. We only live three doors down to them. How about we just a movie night at one of our rooms! And we could just buy back something easy to eat! That way, we still get fed, we still end up watching a movie and we still get our bonding time with the boys!" Alice brilliantly suggested.

"Alice, I love you and your genius ideas!" I agreed with her idea.

"Me too Ali!" Rose added.

"Okay well what time should we meet up and who's room?" I asked Rose and Alice.

"Hmmmm…. Well right now, it's only 11:15. So if we have lunch, then go shopping for hot stuff to wear tonight, then once we get back we start getting ready, hmmm…. How about… 6:30? That gives us 3 hours to do our hair and makeup if we finish shopping by 3:30ish. Oh and let's meet at their room." Alice suggested once again.

"Alright then. I'll just text them now and see whether they're okay with this plan." I decided to text Jasper, since he was the more responsible one out of Emmett and himself, and also because I didn't really know Edward yet.

_Hey guys,_

_Is it okay if we just have a _

_movie night at your place and _

_buy back pizza or something?_

_Bella_

I waited for a reply. _Beep-Beep. _Man, I seriously had to change my text ringtone.

_Hey Bella_

_Yeah that's fine with us._

_What time did you ladies _

_want to meet up?_

_Jasper_

I replied back.

_Is 6:30 okay with you guys?_

I patiently waited for the reply. _Beep-Beep. _Ugh! Stupid, boring tone. It's actually really annoying.

_Yeah that's fine. We'll see_

_you ladies at 6:30 then!_

_Jasper_

I didn't bother replying.

"Alright ladies! It's all set then! 6:30 at their place." I happily announced.

They squealed.

"Come on girls! We have no time to waste!" Alice pulled us out the front door soon after.

We had a quick-yet-satisfying lunch and then started shopping. Personally, I don't really enjoy shopping that much. I don't see why you have to try on 10 different outfits before choosing and purchasing one. I thought it was pretty pointless and time consuming.

"Alright ladies! We're looking for simple, yet attractive outfits. Skirts, singlets, jeans, t-shirts, whatever girls! Just make sure it compliments your body! We're trying to WOW these boys." Alice confidently stated.

"Alice, how do you know that they don't have girlfriends already?" Rose questioned.

"Rose! How dare you! There is to be no negative thinking when I'm around. You should know that by now!"

And with that, Alice started shoving outfits into my hands and arms and even over my shoulders. I was like her own little clothing rack, only these outfits were for me to try on.

After trying on about 6 outfits, all of them turned down by the Shopping Nazi, I found myself staring at my last two outfits that Alice had shoved on me. I decided to try on the pink mini-skirt and the three quarter pink and blue top first. I had already stalled this outfit for so long, I just wanted to get it over and done with. I squeezed into the tiny things and turned to face the mirror inside the small but cosy change rooms. The skirt came up to my mid-thigh and the top emphasised my curves. I actually looked….nice. But it wasn't me. And I didn't feel at all comfortable in it. I don't see how other girls can walk around in skirts.

"Bella hurry up! We don't have all day!" Alice yelled through the door.

I slowly unlocked the door and found Rose had joined Alice on the seats outside my change room.

"Hot much?" Rose said with a huge grin on her face.

"Rose, our Bella is growing up!" Alice said, whilst wiping away a pretend tear. I rolled my eyes at her dramatic ways.

"Bella you look so gorgeous! You should totally buy this outfit!" Rose exclaimed.

"Wait Rose! As much as I love this outfit too, she still has one last outfit to try on."

I turned and went back into my little change room. I got changed into the last outfit, not even bothering to look at what it was, since I knew that Rose and Alice would buy me the pretty little pink mini skirt. Ugh! I won't be able to even sit without flashing. Whatever I was wearing though, it was very comfortable. Without turning to look in the mirror, I unlocked the door and stepped out of the dressing room.

Rose's eyes enlarged. Did I really look that bad? And even if I did, she didn't have to rub it in.

"Wow Bella. You look amazing." Rose finally said. Alice nodded along with her.

"Yeah. Right. Whatever you say Rose" I said, a little bit annoyed that she was lying to me just to make me feel better. I didn't need any sympathy from them just because they looked like models, whilst I was some ugly young lady who tagged along with them.

"No seriously Bella. Have you looked in the mirror?" Rose asked.

I shook my head slowly. I decided to look into the mirror to see what the hell Rose was going on about.

I gasped.

I realised that I was wearing a pair of dark blue skinny jeans which fit my legs perfectly. I had on a long sleeve top that was horizontally striped blue and white. The neck of the top dipped down to a decent level, whilst the whole top hugged my body and emphasised my curves which I didn't even know I had. I hate to say it, but I really do look 'amazing' as Rose had said.

We exited Valley Girl and headed home, since Alice had bought her outfit at Forever New and Rose had purchased an outfit from Portmans.

We arrived home at about 3:50, so we were running a little bit behind time. To Alice however, we running a LOT behind time.

Alice took her shower first whilst me and Rosalie figured out what shoes and accessories each outfit would go with. Well, okay, Rosalie figured out the accessories and shoes while I just sat on the bed and watched her work.

Once Alice was done Rosalie went to go have a shower, promising me that she wouldn't take long today. I sat out in the living room, watching Channel V, while Alice got changed and did her hair and makeup.

Rosalie came out a little while later and Alice forced me into the bathroom, saying "Hurry Bella! We don't have much time. Once you're finished, I should be done getting ready, so you I can then help you with you're hair and makeup, alright. Now go shower!"

I washed my hair with my favourite strawberry shampoo and conditioner. Once I had stayed under the warm water for long enough, I stepped out of the shower and headed over to Rose's room wrapped in my towel. Our beds still hadn't arrived, but they should be arriving in a couple of days, so that would make changing a whole lot easier, since we were lacking places with objects – such as beds to lay our clothes out on – at the moment. I found Rosalie doing her makeup and Alice doing Rosalie's hair when I walked in.

"Fabulous Bella! You're done! Your clothes are just over there and you could probably change in the bathroom." Alice said.

"Okay, thanks."

I grabbed my clothes and headed back to the bathroom. I changed into the jeans first and then the top. I looked into the mirror. These clothes were so comfortable it was amazing. I really did look good. This is like the first time that I have actually thought that I looked good. I really hope Edward agrees with Alice and Rose. I am falling so head over heels for him. I leaned against the bathroom counter and composed myself. I breathed in slowly then out. _I can do this. He's just another guy._ I told myself over and over again. After regaining composure, I stepped out of the bathroom, and prepared for the torture that was about to come from Alice and Rose.

"There you are Bella! What took you so long? It's already 5:53!" Alice said as she pushed me down into the seat that Rosalie was previously in. Rose was now looking into her wall full-length mirror and was still doing her makeup.

Alice combed through my wet hair, then proceeded to blow-dry my hair straight. The end of my hair were curving slightly, so she got out the metal tongs – also known as the straightener – and started killing and squeezing my hair dead straight. She decided to keep my look simple tonight and thankfully didn't do anything else with my hair. I thought it was over, but then I saw her unscrew a small cylinder to reveal a tiny black sword. It was so terrifying.

"Don't bring that sword anywhere near me Alice! I'm warning you! I'll throw a tantrum if I have to." I challenged with an empty threat. We all knew that Alice would win no matter what.

"Bella. All I'm going to do is put a little bit of mascara and eyeliner on, just to emphasise your eyes even more, and then I'm just going to add a thin layer of shiny lip gloss. That's it." Alice reassured me.

"Why do you have to Alice?" I asked, trying to get out of it, even though I knew it was hopeless.

"Bella. Don't you want to make Edward fall for you. Don't you want to impress him?" she asked. The girl knew what she was doing.

I stayed silent and pouted, knowing very well that she had won, once again. Nothing I said now could help me.

"Thank you Bella!" she chimed.

After she was finished with me, she spun me around to the mirror. It was her little rule that her 'clients' couldn't look in the mirror until the final product was ready.

I was again surprised to see another girl staring at me through the mirror. Wait. This girl _was_ me. The makeup really did enhance my look. My eyes were so much more emphasised. My hair, which was amazingly still dead straight, made me look so much younger. My brown hair framed my pale face in a gorgeous way, and I guess my side fringe helped with that too. My eyes started to water up. I had such great friends!

"Thank you so much Alice! And you too Rose! Not just for today, but for all the times you've done this for me!" I thanked.

"Don't cry Bella! You'll ruin your makeup!" Alice reminded me with a panicked voice.

Both me and Rose started laughing at her silliness. Alice joined in after a while. We then all shared a long, loving hug together.

"I love you guys." I softly said into the 3 person cuddle.

"I love you guys more." Rose said.

"Nuh-uh! I love you guys the most!" Alice added.

We started laughing again. We were so random sometimes.

"I'm really excited to meet these boys, especially the one you call 'Emmett'." Rose stated.

"Oh don't worry Rose, I can already imagine you and Emmett as a couple! I can't wait to get to know my dream boy better! And… I'm also really curious to see who this Edward guy is. How did you even meet him Bella?" Alice asked me.

"Well… I first saw him at the airport once we landed in Sydney. He was at the arrival terminal standing against a pillar. Then I actually spoke to him for the first time today, even though we only exchanged a few words." I hesitantly explained.

"Bella. Is that why you didn't see the luggage trolley and tripped over it?" Alice asked with a huge smirk and 'I knew it!' written all over her face.

I could feel my cheeks going pink. I looked down and discretely nodded.

"Oh I so knew it! Bella, you're already totally head over heels for this guy!" Alice squealed.

"I know." I said softly, more so to myself then to my friends.

I looked up and found Alice and Rose exchanging a look with smiles on their faces. Rosalie broke their silent exchange by looking at me. She looked half surprised to see me looking at her.

"Oh… umm… come on girls. It's 6:28 on my phone. We better go now!" Rose happily said.

"Rose, we all know that we have to be fashionably late. It's good to keep them waiting." Alice winked.

"Alright, fine. We'll go find your phones and the keys now then. We don't want to be locked out." Rose suggested.

Me and Alice found our phones, which were on the kitchen bench under a pile of newspaper, while Rose grabbed the apartment keys.

"Do we have everything we need?" Alice asked.

"Yup." Rose answered while I nodded.

"Okay. Well good timing. Cause it's officially 6:31 on my phone." Alice smiled.

"So what are we waiting for ladies? Let's have an awesome night!" Rose cheerfully declared.

We walked out of our apartment, locking it behind us, and headed to Jasper's. To say the least, tonight is probably going to be very interesting.

**Thanks for reading guys!  
Tell me what you think. Did you like it? Hate it? Love it? Enjoy it?  
I'm not sure whether the whole living arrangement coincidences were a bit predictable, but yeah.  
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter.  
I'll update soon!**

**Ice  
xxo**


	4. Night With The Boys

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or its characters.**

**Hey everyone! Thanks for reading L.I.A.M. Love you all. I don't have anything else to say. So, here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy it! **

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_Knock-Knock-Knock._

Us three were smiling at each other, all extremely excited.

We didn't have to wait long since Jasper opened the door to his apartment with a huge smile on his face.

"Good evening ladies. Come on in." Jasper politely welcomed us in.

"Bella" He said as I walked past him.

"You must be Rosalie I'm guessing." I heard him say as Rose walked in behind me.

"Yeah, that's me. It's so nice to meet you Jasper." Rose answered.

"You too Rosalie." He paused. "Hello Alice. It's great to see you again!" Jasper said more enthusiastically.

I swear that boy is already in love with Ali.

"It's really good to see you again too Jasper!" Alice replied back just as happy.

"Bella! You guys made it!" Emmett roared as he came out of one of the bedrooms.

"Of course we did Emmett!" He trapped me another one of his bear hugs. Luckily this time, he released me soon after.

"Umm Emmett, you already know Alice." I said gesturing towards Alice who was already chatting with Jasper.

"Alice!" Emmett yelled.

"Emmett!" Alice yelled back.

He then lifted her into his bone crushing hug. Alice didn't seem bothered by this though.

"I've missed you so much Emmie!" Alice squealed.

"I've missed you more Ali!" Emmett faked a squeal.

We all started laughing at their ridiculousness.

"Oh Emmett. I don't think you've met Rosalie yet. Rosalie, this is Emmett." I informed them.

Emmett turned to see who I was talking about. His eyes almost popped out of his eye sockets while his jaw dropped to the floor. I didn't blame him though. Rosalie really was the most beautiful woman I've ever met, and Alice came in at a very close second.

Rose was wearing grey short shorts which emphasised her long legs, and a low cut black singlet which brought attention to her 'girls' if you know what I mean. She also had on a long, grey cardigan. She had on black stilettos and a black hanging beaded necklace, which matched really well with her outfit.

Alice on the other hand was wearing black leggings and baby pink, strapless dress which came down to her mid-thigh. It too, clung to her body and emphasised her curves. She had pink ballet flats on and she was also wearing pink dangly earrings.

They both looked really gorgeous. Immediately, I felt plain standing near them, yet only half an hour ago, I thought I looked quite pretty.

Jasper and Alice had continued talking near the doorway, while Rose and Emmett had started talking and had moved to the couch. That was when I realised that Edward wasn't here. Great. So I was meant to be the fifth wheel here tonight. That's fine. I'll just sit here in the corner and enjoy the night. By myself. I went to go sit on the tall stools opposite the kitchen bench and watched my friends enjoy themselves.

"Good evening Bella." His velvet voice said softly into my right ear.

I turned to face him and was stunned by his perfect beauty, once again. He was wearing another button-up long sleeved shirt, and his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows again. However this time it was green, which brought out his eyes even more. Oh this man would be the death of me. He had on grey jeans this time which matched perfectly with his shirt. Obviously, he had good fashion taste. Just another great thing about him to add to the list. His gorgeous bronze hair was messily arranged like usual, and I felt that urge to run my hand through it again. I sat on my hands to stop myself.

"Hi" I breathed.

"Can I join you?" he politely asked.

"Sure." I simply answered.

He sat on the stool next to me. He mindlessly ran his hand through his hair. Was the guy trying to kill me?

"So Bella, tell me about yourself."

"What do you wanna know?"

"Hmm… what's your full name?"

"Isabella Marie Swan."

"Isabella…" he slowly said to himself.

I usually didn't like the name Isabella, but when he said it, it actually sounded good.

"What's your full name?" I asked.

"Edward Anthony Cullen."

"Anthony?" I asked disbelieving.

He looked ashamed of it and discretely nodded. I had to laugh at the cute expression on his face. He pouted and started to look truly hurt.

"I'm sorry Edward, it's just the expression on your face was priceless. I'm not laughing at your name, I swear." I explained after getting out the giggles.

"It's okay. I don't really like the name either to be honest." He smiled.

I couldn't help but smile back as I got lost in his emerald eyes.

"Okay. Next question. Here's an easy one. What's your favourite colour?"

"Green." I blurted out. I went red. Since when had my favourite colour been green? I thought it was blue. I guess this guy really did affect me in more ways than I knew.

He smiled at my answer. Or maybe he was smiling at the sight of me blushing. Hopefully he didn't know the cause of my embarrassment.

We continued taking turns asking each other questions until Alice brought me to reality.

"Bella! What do you want to eat for dinner?"

"Oh… umm… I don't mind." I replied.

"We call her four times and she doesn't reply. Then when she does reply all she says is 'I don't mind.'" Alice muttered, clearly annoyed.

They had called me four times already? I didn't even realise. Edward is way too distracting for my own good.

"Okay guys. Well then majority rules." Jasper said.

"Yes! Pizza!" Emmett boomed.

Everyone laughed at his usual silliness.

Jasper ordered the pizza online as the rest of us gathered in the living room. Rosalie and Emmett took up one of their small, cosy couches while Alice sat on the floor, waiting for Jasper. That left me and Edward with the other cosy couch. Edward went to go sit down on the couch. I didn't move since I wasn't sure whether he even wanted me to sit next to him.

"Bella. What are you doing?" He asked, obviously amused by my actions.

"Standing." I stated matter-of-factly.

"Well there's space here. I'm not that fat." He jokingly said, with a crooked smile plastered on his face.

If he was to be the death of me, then that crooked smile would be the double death of me. I walked over to the small couch and sat down awkwardly. I tried to be as stiff as possible, not wanting to tempt myself. I tried to avoid reminding myself that I was sitting next to a perfect, Greek god. I resulted to concentrating on my breathing. In and out. In and out. That's right Bella, keep breathing steadily and quietly.

"Guys the pizza should be here in 15 minutes or so. Do you guys wanna start watching a movie now, or wait for the food?" Jasper asked the whole group as he joined Alice on the floor.

"Wait for the food!" Emmett bellowed out.

"No! Let's start watching something!" Alice yelled back.

"Okay well, who votes for waiting for the food?" Jasper asked.

Emmett's hand shot up to the air quicker than lightning. Everyone else's hands stayed in their laps.

"Who votes for starting a movie now?"

Everyone's hands except Emmett's went up, all eyes watching Emmett carefully.

"Oh you guys suck!" Emmett pouted while he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"It's okay Emmett. The food will be here soon." Rosalie comforted him by patting him on the shoulder.

He lightened up a bit at Rosalie's obvious care for him.

Alice jumped up and danced over to Jasper's movie collection.

"You have heaps of movies Jasper!" Rose exclaimed.

"Well actually, they're not all mine. Some of them are Emmett's and Edward's. It's all of our collections put together." He admitted.

"That's cause we're always over here watching movies!" Emmett boomed, obviously back to his happy, silly mood.

"That's true." Edward nodded along.

"That's right. This is our crib!" Jasper said.

Everyone was silent and looking at Jasper disbelievingly.

Then everyone burst out into laughter. All except Jasper.

"What?" Jasper asked.

"Dude. Don't you ever try talking like a gangster ever again!" Emmett saved the rest of us from explaining to poor, clueless Jasper.

"Why not?" Jasper asked, with a clueless expression still evident on his face.

"Because you just can't pull it off man!" Emmett answered.

"Says who? I so can." He argues back.

"Oh just forget it man!" Emmett silenced him.

Jasper sunk back into the side of the couch which he was leaning on, while sitting on the floor.

"Oh we so have to watch this!" Alice said turning around to reveal to us 'What Happens In Vegas.'

Rose, Alice and I had watched the movie several billion times, but we never got sick of it. It was one of the funniest yet sweetest movies I'd ever seen in my life.

"Why do you guys even have this movie? Isn't it meant to be a chick flick?" Rose asked, puzzled.

"Long story. Don't ask." Emmett answered for us.

I saw Edward stiffen slightly out of the corner of my eye. He then relaxed just as quickly. How random.

"So can we watch it? Please? Pretty Please!" Alice convinced the boys, who had hesitant looks on their faces.

"If you girls want to, then that's fine with me." Jasper agreed with Alice's choice of movie.

"I'm okay with it." Edward said.

"Emmett?" Alice asked with a pleading look on her face.

"Ohhh…. Fine!" Emmett gave up with a pout on his face.

"Thank you Emmie! I love you!" Alice squealed.

Everyone smiled at her lovable personality.

After she shoved the DVD in the DVD player, she skipped over to Emmett and gave him a light kiss on the cheek. She then pranced over to me and Edward, and gave him an appreciative hug. She made her way over to her spot on the floor without giving Jasper any form of a 'thank-you.'

"Don't I get a thank-you hug?" Jasper asked hesitantly. His eyes told all. He was dying to make any sort of contact with Alice.

"Of course you do." Alice replied, surprised by his question brought up by impulse.

She gave him a hug, but as she released him, you could see that she didn't actually want to let go of him. Jasper also looked like he wanted to keep her in his arms forever as he released her from his hold. It was only a matter of time before the two of them were going to be an item.

We soon started the movie. The advertisements for movies that were being released soon, when the DVD came out, played without us skipping over them. It was soon up to the very start of the movie. Then there was a knock at the door.

"Pizza!" Emmett yelled out as he ran to the door.

"Pause the movie! Pause the movie!" Alice screamed at Rose who had the remote.

"I'm pausing! I'm pausing! Just stop screaming at me woman!" Rose yelled back.

I laughed at the situation that I was witnessing while sitting her next to this man of a God. I turned to him to see him silently laughing at my friends too. I guess he felt my eyes on him since he turned his view to me soon after. I looked away a few seconds after our eyes made contact and tried to avoid looking suspicious. Luckily the lights were off, so he wouldn't be able to see me blushing.

"Look what the awesome man named Emmett dragged in. Pizza!" Emmett joked.

We all grabbed a slice and then Rose clicked 'play' under the direction of Alice.

We finished the movie at around 9:40 then moved on to watch "White Chicks." While Alice was changing the DVD's, I noticed that all the pizza was gone.

"Where'd all the pizza go?" I asked out of curiosity.

"It's gone to a better place." Emmett said.

"Where's that?" I questioned, clearly confused.

"In here." Emmett replied, patting and rubbing his tummy.

I had to laugh at his lame sense of humour once again. Emmett would always be able to make me laugh. That was something I knew for sure.

"Okay guys. Movie's about to start!" Alice chimed.

"Yes! I love this movie!" Emmett cheered at the TV screen.

From then till the end of the movie, the room stayed pretty silent. Once the movie ended, I looked around the room to find everyone asleep. Emmett was sleeping on one end of the couch, taking up three-quarters of it, whilst Rose made use of the remainder of the couch. Jasper and Alice had both resulted to lying on the floor, Jasper facing Alice's back. He had one arm slung around her waist protectively. All four of them looked content, just lying there in peace. I had to smile at my friends' happiness. Emmett then started snoring.

I started chuckling softly to myself.

"Yeah, he usually snores. Don't worry, you get used to it after years of being his roommate." His velvet voice shocked me.

I jumped slightly due to the shock. I didn't realise that he was still awake.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to frighten you." He apologised.

"No, it's fine. I just thought you were asleep." I reassured him that I was absolutely fine.

We were sitting in darkness, however the faint light from the TV allowed me to make out the rough outline of his face.

"Are you tired?" he asked after a while of silence.

"Not really. You?"

"Nah, I'm still wide awake." He softly laughed.

I laughed along quietly too, trying to relieve the awkward tension. We were alone…. well basically.

That's when I realised that there actually was no tension between the two of us. I was just making it seem like there was.

"Do you mind if I ask you more questions?" he asked.

"Go ahead." I smiled.

"Hmm… let's see. Have I asked you how old you are?"

"Nopes, and I'm 22. How old are you?"

"Recently turned 24" he answered.

"Oh, well, happy belated birthday!"

He laughed at my silliness "Thanks."

His laugh was music to my ears. It was so musical, soft and velvet. He couldn't get any more perfect. He just couldn't.

"So when was your birthday?"

"June 20th. Yours?"

"September 13th." I answered.

"That's pretty soon. We'll have to organise a party for you." He winked, which I barely caught in the darkness.

"Oh please don't! I hate parties. Well it's actually the attention that I hate." I informed him.

He chuckled at my reasoning and my fear of being in the spotlight.

"Please don't Edward." I pleaded him.

"Okay. Fine. But I don't know how you're going to convince Alice to not throw a huge party for you. I can already tell that when she wants something, she does everything in her power to get it."

"Yeah. That's Alice for you. But she's awesome. She's been my best friend since high school. Same with Rose."

"Oh don't get me wrong! I really like her too. She's so easy to get along with. She's seems really cool." He said.

"Well, Alice is a pretty lovable person. I don't think anyone could hate her." I added.

"Yeah… So you three have been friends since high school?"

"Yup! Then we all went to the same university. All our courses were pretty short, so we were soon looking for full time jobs. And that's why we're here, cause of Alice's job."

"Oh okay. What were you studying in university?"

"I was studying English…. I kinda wanna be a journalist you see." I said, slightly embarrassed for reasons I don't know.

"What's so embarrassing about that?"

I shrugged, hoping he would catch it in the darkness.

"Well, I want to be a doctor, if that makes you feel any less embarrassed." He said.

"A doctor. That's heaps cool."

"Yeah well, my dad's a doctor, and growing up I saw him help so many people in all these sorts of different situations. It really had an influence on me, and now I really want to do the same – help people, you know?"

"That's really cool how you have so much meaning behind why you want to be a doctor. I just want to be a journalist because I like writing." I lamely admitted.

"That's as good as a reason as mine Bella." He reassured me.

"I guess… Anyway, my turn. How'd you, Jasper and Emmett meet?"

"It's a long story."

"I have time." I smiled.

"Well. It was our first year of uni, and me and Jasper met on campus. We quickly befriended each other, since as you know, Jasper is also really easy to get along with. So anyway, we were walking to the parking lot on campus one day when this football hits Jasper in the back of the head. He lost his balance and fell to the ground while I stood there laughing at him. The all of a sudden, Emmett being the huge man that he is comes running over to us. Jasper thinks he's going to charge at him and take him for another round, since we both assumed that it was Emmett who hit Jasper in the head. So Jasper quickly gets up and starts running for his life down the car park like a little schoolgirl. Emmett finally reaches me – by the way I stayed put – and he's like "Where did your friend run off to? I run all the way over here to apologize to him – oh, and also to find my footy – and he runs off?" I was laughing my arse off by this point, while Jasper had locked himself in his car. Emmett and I walked over to Jasper's car, and when we were almost there, Jasper starts the engine with a panicked look on his face. Emmett then knocks on his window and apologises to Jasper once the window was down. Jasper obviously forgave him, being the nice person that he is, however I honestly think it was so that his face wouldn't meet Emmett's fist. Anyway, from then on Emmett hung out with us since he considered us 'cool guys.' We've been friends ever since that one afternoon." He laughed.

I was laughing so hard by then. Jasper was such a funny man. But then again, I was pretty intimidated when I first got an eyeful of Emmett. I have to admit, he does come off as a pretty scary guy at first. However once you get to know him, you realise he's such a teddy bear at heart.

My need to yawn disobeyed my brain which was trying to stop myself from yawning. I didn't want this night to end. I loved just sitting here with Edward, in the darkness, asking each other questions. It felt so right. Unfortunately he noticed my body's shout out to my brain, telling me that I needed some sleep.

"Well I guess we'll call it a night. You seem pretty tired and you need some rest."

"Alright then." I unwillingly agreed.

He started getting off the couch.

"What are you doing?" I asked confused.

"I'm sleeping on the floor." He simply answered.

"Edward you don't have to do that! If anyone is going to sleep on the floor, it should be me. I don't live here."

"Neither do I." he cheekily replied.

I rolled my eyes at his silliness.

"Well you use to live here. So I'll sleep on the floor."

"Bella. What kind of a guy would I be if a agreed to you sleeping on the floor?" he asked.

I stayed silent, not sure how to answer.

"Please Bella. Don't be stubborn. I want to do this. Me and the floor are really good friends and I've missed it so much. Nothing would make me happier than to catch up with it tonight." He playfully said.

I pouted. "Fine."

"Thank you Bella. Now get some rest." He said as he lay back to lie on the floor.

After a minute of silence I said "I honestly don't know why you're the one sleeping on the floor, while I get the comfy couch. It really doesn't make any sense at–"

"Bella." He warned.

"Fine." I said for the second time in one and a half minutes.

"Goodnight Bella." His velvet voice whispered.

"Goodnight Edward." I whispered back.

I knew I would have a great sleep tonight, since my dreams would be of Edward. The Edward which was lying literally less than a metre away from me. Practically next to me if you didn't count the difference in elevation. I tried to get those thoughts out of my head before I started hyperventilating.

I slipped into a deep unconsciousness after that, not noticing whether Edward had fallen asleep yet.

***

"Do you really need me to? I'm kind of busy today."

A few seconds later the voice started talking again.

"Well I'm hanging out with some new friends. They're all really nice, you should meet them."

Another pause.

"Okay then. Well I'll see you tomorrow. Actually you know what? Meet me at Jasper's tomorrow, then you can meet them." The familiar voice said.

My focus of my surroundings was still blurry. Who was talking that woke me up from my pleasant dreams. I forced my eyes open to see who it was.

Edward was leaning against the kitchen counter with what I'm guessing was his mobile pressed up against his right ear.

"My new friends. Weren't you even listening to me before?"

He considered me his friend? How sweet, since he's only known me for less than a day. My heart fluttered at his words.

"Alright. Thanks honey. I'll see you tomorrow. I love you."

How cute. Wait. What? Honey? I love you?

I went numb while my heart crushed into a million pieces.

**So who do you think Edward was talking to?  
Or was Bella just dreaming?  
Tell me what ya think!**

I'll update soon.  
Thanks for reading!

mucho love  
Ice  
x


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